Shadows
by Little Beasty-Chan
Summary: Y'know that mini-story in my description? Well this is the full one. Read to figure out what it's all about. Have fun


It all started that day, the day that the fomors _killed_ my father. My father was an amazing fighter. He was far greater than I could ever be. That is, until I met her. Her name? Rose, short for Rosalina. With her beautiful red hair, she's the only one who understands me. My father was killed when I was only six years old. I never really had a mother. My mom didn't want me, so when I was born, she got a divorce with my dad and left him custody. He named me Rai; he was the only one who ever loved me. Until Rose came into the picture.

I met Rose when we were both fourteen. I had a pass for Ciar dungeon, and I was sitting in by the entrance, waiting for someone. At that point, I couldn't beat the dungeon alone. I had lost count of how many people came and went, somewhere around twenty, but no one joined my party. Then, she came in. She walked right up to me and happily joined me. She was my age, and about my height. Most people don't like me, mostly because of my ghostly white hair, but she didn't seem to notice.

We swept through the dungeon with extreme ease. We sliced through monster after monster. She was just like me; she couldn't make it through the dungeon on her own. But if you had watched us fight, you would have thought we had been fighting for years. After we finished the dungeon, we went in again, and again. Every time, the same thing, we never got a single scratch. We were perfectly in sync. Landing blow after blow, annihilating anything in our path. We soon became good friends. We grew stronger together, and almost never did anything without each other.

By the time we were sixteen, we were amazingly strong. We could beat Karu dungeon alone. But one day, when we were Karu dungeon, we got separated. When I finally got to the room she was in, she had killed all the monsters in it, but then I looked down. Her leg was cut wide open. I ran faster than I ever ran before, I slid to her side and immediately started using first aid on it. After I finished, she was still in pain, but cut was no longer bleeding. She tried to get up, so we could leave, but the pain was too great. She collapsed back to the floor, gripping her leg. That's when it happened. It's amazing what can overcome the pain of a sword wound. Right then, when it seemed that she was about to lose consciousness, I leaned over and kissed her. If was almost as if her pain just melted away. When I pulled away, we stared into each other's eyes. Then I snapped back to reality and tended to her wound again. Then I summoned my horse, picked her up, and gently set her down on his back. I jumped on and rode out of the dungeon. After we were out of then dungeon, we headed to back to Filia, she needed a healer. I could tell that she was becoming weak, because she started weighing more and more on me. We entered Filia just as she was about to faint, and sprinted to the healer.

Our relationship grew stronger, as did her leg. As her leg regained strength, we ventured into harder challenges. When we turned twenty, after six years of being together, I knew it was time to ask her. I went to Filia and got the ring, then I proposed. She knew exactly what I was doing as soon as I took the ring out. As soon as the words came out of my mouth, she said yes. So we went to Filia and got married, since we are both elves. Several months passed, the fomors were getting stronger.

-Present day-

"Come on sweetie, were gonna miss the moon gate, we have to get to Tailteann before they close, "I said.

"I know, I'm going as fast as I can," said Rose.

"Here, hop on" I said as I summon my horse. Rose hops on and wraps her arms around my waist. After we ride awhile, we start to see the moon gate in the distance. "There it is, just in time too, we only have a few minutes"

They ride up on Rai's horse and head through the moon gate. They appear just outside Tailteann's walls. They trot up to the gate, when a guard stops them.

"What's this about?" asks Rose.

"We are required to stop everyone before they enter the city. There has been a recent uprising of the fomors. Take caution if you are going on a shadow mission," says the guard.

"That's actually what we were here for," I say.

"Well, just be careful, the fomors have gotten a lot stronger than usual," says the guard. "You may pass now"

Me and Rose trot past the gate and up to the shadow mission bulletin board. We look over the missions and find one that suits us. We accept the mission to kill the crag cow. So then we hop back on my horse and ride towards Stonehenge. When we get there, we hop off of my horse, who is named Mythic, and Head right into the shadow realm. We get in, and prep for battle.

We put on our body armor, and take out our dragon blades, all of which we had made ourselves. Then we sling our backpacks back over our shoulders and head towards the first group of fomors.

We start attacking the first group, first luring, and then taking turns attacking. We take them on one by one, still taking caution to protect Rose's leg. We get into a rhythm, taking them out one by one. We never get hit by their sword, protecting each other. When a fomor attacks one of us, the other steps in and knocks it out.

Just as were heading up to the last group of monsters, Rose stops and drops to her knees.

"What's wrong? I asked. "Is it your leg?"

_**There are too many, I can't win. I won't survive….**_

"No, just a small headache, it's nothing" Says Rose.

"Ok, let's get this done quickly, we need to go again before dark," I say

Thy head up to the last group of fomors, and easily take them out. Then, in the distance, we hear a low, rumbling growl. We know what this is. We hop on Mythic and ride to where the growl was. Just as we hop off of Mythic, we see it. Just as we suspected, the Crag Cow. Luckily, it's back is turned.

I run up to it, motioning for Rose to stay quiet. I ready my sword. I jump as high as I can, land on the cow's back, and plunge my sword as deep as I can into its back. As quickly as I jumped on it's back, I leap off and run back to Rose's side.

While I was on its back, Rose was readying smash. She runs up and attacks the beast with all of her strength. Then, together, we charge at the beast, attacking it endlessly. Just when it looks about done, Rose pulls her sword above her sword, and pulls it back down into the cow. She pulls her sword out, and the beast falls to the ground with a sickening thud.

_**There are too many, I can't win. I won't survive… **_

"Nice job sweetheart," I say smilingly

"I couldn't have done it without you," Rose says as she hugs me.

I lean down and kiss her. Then we both warp out of the shadow realm.

When we arrive back in Stonehenge, I summon Mythic and prepare to ride back into town to get another mission. I load up Mythic's bag with our swords and body armor, close his bag, and hop on his back. Rose hops up and wraps her arms around my waist. We ride up the guard, this time, he doesn't stop us, and we continue to the shadow mission bulletin board.

"Rai?" said Rose.

"Yeah?" I say "What's up?"

"I think I'm getting a headache, I'm gonna go home and rest."

"Ok, do you want me to come with?" I say.

"No, I've got it." She says as she summons her Bengal tiger, Darkclaw.

I lean over and kiss her forehead, then turn around and ride towards Stonehenge. I trot up to Stonehenge and head right in. Something doesn't feel right. I shake it off, it's probably just because Rose isn't with me. Then I grab my sword and body armor out of Mythic's bag. Just as I'm about to close the bag, a tear rolls onto my eyelid. It's the first time in six years that I've fought without Rose.

I walk closer to the first group of lancers. I'm just about to charge, when I feel something. Something changed inside me. All of the sudden all of the rage and anger against the fomors welled up inside me. Tears came to my eyes. I pointed my sword directly at the middle Lancer.

"You killed my father!" I scream at the top of my lungs. "I will have my revenge!"

Then I charge. It seems that the lancers have finally realized what was happening, and they readied their weapons. But with the anger that has collected in me, there is no chance for them.

I run straight up to the lancer on my left, and slice his weapon directly in half. I turn to the lancer on the right and stab him right through his heart. After pulling my sword out of his chest, I turn back to the first lancer and jab him in the neck with the sharp edge of my armor. I turn to the last one… …and slice his head right off his body.

I walk off to the next group, two fighters and a shire. I don't even look back as the three lancers fall the ground dead. I drag my sword on the ground as I walk right up to the next group of monsters that haven't noticed me yet. I kneel behind them, then throw my sword across all of them. My strike is low and precise. I get up and walk away as the fall the ground. With their legs separated from their body.

_**There are too many, I can't win. I won't survive…**_

Something's not right. They're too easy to defeat. It's almost as if they want me to win. Then off in the distance, I hear a low rumbling growl, just as I had before with Rose.  
"It's too soon, I've only killed six guys!" I say to myself.

I decide to go ahead anyway, maybe the fomors had had a shortage in forces after the recent uprising. I sprint to the spot where the growl came from, and just like before, a crag cow.

I attack the beast just like I did with Rose. I jump onto it's back and plunge my sword deep into its Flesh. But this time, after I jump off, it's doesn't move, it doesn't even make a sound. Then, it starts. A cloudy fog starts to creep around me. Then the ground, it starts shaking. I see a ghastly figure in the fog. It opens its mouth and wails. The sound surrounds me, twenty times louder than what me and Rose had heard together.

Almost instantaneously, the fog drops. I look around me, I look into the faces of hundreds of Crag cows, lancers, fighters, and archers.

"There are too many, I can't win. I won't survive."

One brave lancer charges at me, with no effort I slice cleanly through his neck. Instinctively, I jump right onto the back of one of the cows. I jump from beast to beast, until I get to the outside. Then I run.

With my elf stature, I can get a ways away before the start after me. I can run fast, but they're faster. I run up the cliff, hoping to channel them into a single line, but I miscalculated the width of the cliff.

The sun just barely peaks over the mountains, and light pours into the valley. The light hits their charging bodies, _and passes through them. _They get closer. I try to run, but I can't get away from them. I try to right, but for some reason, my sword passes right through their bodies. They pin me to the edge of the cliff. I can't win. I know I can't. I utter one word before letting myself fall backwards off the cliff.

"Defeat"

I plummet to the ground, tossing and turning in the air. The fall seems to go on forever. Then just as the thought leaves my mind, I hit the ground.

I Wake up in a cold sweat, panting. I must have been asleep. Then it comes back to me. When we got out of the shadow realm, I slipped and hit my head on one of the Stonehenge rocks. My mind must have filled in the rest. I roll over to see my dear wife, soundly sleeping. I lean over and kiss her on the cheek. Then I lay back down on my side of the bed and quietly sigh in relief.

I live to fight another day.


End file.
